# The Return Of... So what are you reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2003, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107 "2003-02-24T05:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/21 "2003-02-24T13:35:40Z")
Well, I have plenty of time on my hands to read nowadays \ Just finished S.M. Stirling’s newest, **Conquistador** , about a WWII vet who discovers a doorway into an alternate America where white men never settled. He gets his Army buddies to help colonize it, and then the action switches to 2009, when a Fish and Wildlife agent stumbles onto the secret by discovering a cache of long-extinct animals in a warehouse. A well-written page-turner. Right now, I have several books that I’m working on: **The Mathematical Universe** by William Dunham (who used to teach at my college). It’s an alphabetical survey of famous proofs and personalities in the history of mathematics (e.g., D is for Differential Calculus, E is for Euler). It’s an enjoyable and accessible book for the reader who is not allergic to equations. **City of Nets** by Otto Friedrich. It’s a history of Hollywood in the 1940s that focuses less on famous stars than on the influence of HUAC on Hollywood politics and blacklisting, the Owens Valley water theft, and the clashes between the different strata of LA society from studio heads to stars to gangsters. **Pulp Friction** , edited by Michael Bronski, a social history of gay erotica from the 1940s to the 1960s. **Household Gods** a novel about a woman who is bitter about her divorce and her job , and is transported to a Roman garrison town in the second century, where she finds out both the difficulty of life in a preindustrial sexist era and the inner strangth to triumph over her difficulties. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/22 "2003-02-24T13:38:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AlbertRose \* > \*\ ***If Chins Could Kill** , by Bruce Campbell. He’s the star of various B-movies (including the _Evil Dead_ series) and of TV’s _Brisco County, Jr._ I’m enjoying it immensely – he’s an entertaining guy. He comes off as a pretty earthy, decent fellow, and not at all arrogant. \*\* GREAT BOOK!!! I had mine signed by the man, the myth, the legend, at a convention that I specially went to in order for him to sign it. Let’s see, what am I reading? Well, I just finished **Bad Astronomy** by our very own doper **The Bad Astronomer** , I thought that was a great book and easy to understand. I liked the style and the way the book flowed. It made me think that I, too, could be an astronomer one day (granted I know I won’t be, but it’s nice to think I could be). I’m also reading: **Evolutionary Wars Return of the King Bored of the Rings** and I’m about to start **Ender’s Game** and Robert Heinlen’s **The Number of the Beast**. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Shill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Shill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shill)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/23 "2003-02-24T13:53:46Z")
I’m reading _The Communist Manifesto_ by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It’s actually putting some sound theoretical basis to my beliefs about communism. Plus it was only three quid and therefore perfect for my delightful student budget. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/24 "2003-02-24T14:09:43Z")
Right now, I’m reading Barry Malzberg’s **The Engines of the Night** , a collection of essays on science fiction writing, and **Dawnthief** , a fantasy novel by James Barclay which, so far, is much better than it should be, given that it seems to be a novelized gaming session. I’ve recently re-read P.G. Wodehouse’s **Jeeves in the Offing** , in the lovely new Overlook Press hardcover (which is giving me great excuses to read Wodehouse books regularly). And I just finished Donald E. Westlake’s **Under an English Heaven** , which makes me wish that he’d written more non-fiction books (though I suppose he could still start now). Actually, I wish he’d written more books _period_ – there can never be enough Westlake in this world. And earlier last week, I read another old odd Westlake book, **Kinds of Love, Kinds of Death** , a serious detective novel published as by “Tucker Coe.” Coming up next, I think, will be S.J. Perelman’s **The Ill-Tempered Clavichord** (though I do have another Overlook Wodehouse book waiting for me…) ---
**Author:** ![Duncan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@Duncan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duncan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/25 "2003-02-24T14:29:10Z")
Just finished “The Art of Travel” by Alain de Botton, and “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel, both of which were excellent reads. Almost finished “Thus Spoke Zarathustra”, but its hard work, and making a start on the Gormenghast Trilogy, and “The Thought Gang” by Tibor Fischer. Interestingly I also made a start on Marx and Engels’ “Communist Manifesto”, but after the first few pages I found their assertions so positively disgusting I had to put it down. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/26 "2003-02-24T14:31:00Z")
_The Baseball Prospectus - 2003_. Math and baseball. What more could anyone want? I just started _Seventh Son_, by Orson Scott Card again for lunchtime light reading. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/27 "2003-02-24T14:38:52Z")
I have wandered into “junk food for the brain” territory in my reading of late, and have spent the last couple days catching up on light mystery series and random fast stuff: Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mysteries (two so far); MC Beaton’s Hamish MacBeth stories (just finished Death of a Celebrity); A couple of Erma Bombeck collections I found at a thrift store for 20 cents each; Maeve Binchy’s London Transports, a collection of short stories; and The Group by Mary McCarthy - so far it’s boring me to tears, but it’s a book I’ve always meant to read. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/28 "2003-02-24T15:50:48Z")
Have just finished Lovely Bones for the SDMB Bookclub. For my IRL bookclub, we picked Carter Beats the Devil. The authors of these books are married to each other. Have just been on a Jane Austen kick as well - rereading Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensability. Needed it after last month where I read Handmaids Tale and Maus back to back. ---
**Author:** ![swannguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@swannguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swannguy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/29 "2003-02-24T15:52:36Z")
Well I just finished “The Gospel according to Jesus Christ” by Jose Sarmago (A book I can not reconmmend enough to people - though a tough read due his writing style). I’m now reading “The Stone Raft” also by Saramago. Once I finish that I will commence with something more light - “Manifold-Time” by Stephen Baxter ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/30 "2003-02-24T17:02:39Z")
I just finished “The Long Goodbye,” by Raymond Chandler, last night. Next in line - “Women in Love,” by D. H. Laurence. ---
**Author:** ![Zanshin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e274bd/32.png) [@Zanshin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zanshin)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/31 "2003-02-24T17:17:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fibber McGee \* > \*\*-_Cryptonomicon_ by Neil Stephenson > A book in the Stephen King tradition (i.e. probably twice as long as it needs to be) about code-breakers during WWII and the adventures of their granchildren in the present day. The books has a tendency to go off on a lot of rambling tangents, but since they’re generally _entertaining_ rambling tangents it’s forgivable. \*\* Yeah, this book probably would have been better had Stephenson cut out most of the Lawrence Waterhouse material. I dug Shaftoe and Randy much more… I ended up blipping over a lot of the Lawrence stuff. Although his description of Manual Overrides, along with the accompanying graphs and descriptions of equations, was enough to amuse a huge geek like me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/32 "2003-02-24T17:24:57Z")
I’m about halfway through The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer. It’s a pretty good quick read. I recently finished Botany of Desire, which I heard of in one of these other threads. It was interesting, but didn’t really captivate me. Most every review I’ve heard has been real positive, so maybe it’s just me. Next up will either be Guns, Germs & Steel or Dead Men Do Tell Tales, both thanks to my fellow Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![beajerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@beajerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beajerry)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/33 "2003-02-24T17:33:04Z")
In Darwin’s Shadow, by M. Shermer about Wallace. I’m halfway through and it’s so-far very interesting. The Philosphical Biography of Nietzsche. It’s more interesting than it sounds. Seriously! The last novel I read was Prey, by Crichton. It was so-so-- interesting ideas and scary in the middle with good suspense, but kinda fell into corny-land at the end. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/34 "2003-02-24T17:37:00Z")
I’m reading Marcel Pagnol’s “Jean de Florette” and “Manon des Sources”, which I’ve intended to read for a long time, but I get a case of mind-blank whenever I visit the library. I haven’t read anything this good in many, many years. I’m not into comparing literary works, but as a frame of reference, they remind me strongly of “Tortilla Flat” and “Cannery Row” by John Steinbeck. Instead of lovable drunks and paisanos, however, we have not-so-lovable Provencal peasants. Lyllyan, I highly recommend these to you, if you haven’t already read them. In addition, Pagnol’s “The Glory of My Father” and “The Castle of My Mother” are lovely reads. ---
**Author:** ![InTransit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@InTransit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InTransit)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/35 "2003-02-24T18:16:52Z")
Currently, You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers. Up next: Dead Cities: a Natural History by Mike Davis and Njals Saga, translated by Magnus Magnusson (the Icelandic saga tales) ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/36 "2003-02-24T18:37:03Z")
I am rereading The Throat by Peter Straub in an effort to garner SOME understanding of his Blue Rose Trilogy. After that I plan to read Lullaby, by Chuck Palahniuk. jjim, I really liked His Dark Materials. I read it over the summer and was pretty impressed. Damn heavy stuff for kids’ lit. Johnny LA, you have great taste in books. Too bad I can’t make it to Dopefest West to talk to you about them in person. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/37 "2003-02-24T19:01:11Z")
**Gods Bits of Wood** by Oussman. (I just know I spelled that wrong.) **Coming of Age in Mississippi** –I regret to say I don’t remember who wrote this…but it’s a great book. **Things Fall Apart** by Chinua Achebe. ---
**Author:** ![big\_alex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@big\_alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_alex)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/38 "2003-02-24T19:10:42Z")
Oliver Twist… but I usually only get about half way through before I get bogged down by the plot and all the unexplained people and Dickens’ neverending sentences. And I managed Lord of the Rings with no problems! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/39 "2003-02-24T21:03:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Johnny LA, you have great taste in books. The writings, or the editions? I forgot to say that I read **The Time Machine** by H.G. Wells before _The Diamond Age_. And I read Ursula K. LeGuin’s **The Disposessed** and Azimov’s **The Gods Themselves** rather recently as well. (The S.F. seems to be coming faster than the Classics.) ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107/40 "2003-02-24T21:07:30Z")
I joined Jadis’ [50 Books Challenge community](http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=50bookchallenge) over on LiveJournal and have been pretty busy. My last 2 reads (commented on in the above community) were [The Harlan Ellison Hornbook](http://www.livejournal.com/talkpost.bml?journal=50bookchallenge&itemid=143816) and [The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick - Vol 3](http://www.livejournal.com/talkpost.bml?journal=50bookchallenge&itemid=144119) - which includes “The Father Thing”, **coil**. I don’t recommend reading both of these authors concurrently, unless you LIKE feeling rather depressed for a bit 🙂 I also recently read the _His Dark Materials_ trilogy recently **jjim** – if you feel like talking about them, let me know. **scout1222** - I read _DMDTT_ and part of _GG&S_ last summer - for me, Dead Men was an easier read in terms of the writing. GG&S was just too textbooky for my tastes at the time. [Comments on everything I’ve read so far this year](http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=politzania&itemid=3119) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-return-of-so-what-are-you-reading/157107.md?page=3)